Controversial businessman is linked to mineral company with interest in Greenland

The Australian-American company Critical Metals Corp, which is currently in the process of acquiring the Australian company Tanbreez and thus potentially take over the exploitation license for rare minerals in Killavaat Alannguat, has come under the spotlight of the Romanian media.

The two news media Romania-Insider.com and Ziarul Financiar has taken a closer look at the shareholder group behind Critical Metals Corps' parent company European Lithium, and points out that the controversial Romanian-Australian businessman Frank Timis, who today resides in London, sits on the majority of the shares in the company as a shadow leader allegedly with the aim of ensuring that Romania can become a processing site for a future industrial plant for the production of metals and magnets for industry and defense.

The Australian-American company Critical Metals Corp, which is currently in the process of acquiring the Australian company Tanbreez and thus potentially take over the exploitation license for rare minerals in Killavaat Alannguat, has come under the spotlight of the Romanian media.

The two news media Romania-Insider.com and Ziarul Financiar has taken a closer look at the shareholder group behind Critical Metals Corps' parent company European Lithium, and points out that the controversial Romanian-Australian businessman Frank Timis, who today resides in London, sits on the majority of the shares in the company as a shadow leader allegedly with the aim of ensuring that Romania can become a processing site for a future industrial plant for the production of metals and magnets for industry and defense.

Heroin possession and corruption charges

Frank Timis is a very controversial figure who in his early years in the Australian city of Perth several times was arrested for possession of heroin, but who nevertheless managed to build a lucrative business around mining and oil extraction with the companies Gabriel Resources, Regal Petroleum, African Minerals and others, which have secured him a fortune of approx. 12 billion dollars.

Frank Timis has been several times investigated by both media and authorities for tax evasion, corruption and fraud. Among other things by the BBC in 2019, who in the documentary "The $10 Billion Energy” questioned an acquisition of a gas field off the coast of Senegal.

The charges have subsequently been denied by Frank Timis and Timis Corporation.

Most recently, the authorities in Senegal have demanded payment of 250 million euros for failure to pay taxes in in connection with an oil agreement. That case is not closed.

In some cases, the authorities have had to stop the investigation due to lack of evidence.

Several of Frank Timi's companies are registered in the Virgin Islands – which also applies to Critical Metals Corp, which stands to take over the project in Killavaat Alannguat. And that makes it difficult for the authorities to access tax information.

Setting for Naalakkersuisut on road

Asked if anyone in the Ministry of Raw Materials knows about Frank Timis, the answer is that you don't. But that you are currently in process of investigating the company in more detail in accordance with the requirements of the Mining Act rights holders. It is the case that if a company with a licence, is taken over by another company, the department must prepare a recommendation to Naalakkersuisut, who must then ultimately assess whether the company can is approved as a new license holder.

In other words, Critical must Metals Corp is approved by Naalakkersuisut before they can take over the exploitation license in Killavaat Alannguat.

Investigations underway

Whether the department's recommendation will contain reservations or direct warnings, the head of department will not reveal, but Sermitsiaq has previously written that the department is aware that Critical Metals Corps' parent company European Lithium has had several cases against it stock market manipulation and market abuse in connection with their Lithium project i Austrian Wolfsberg, which, among other things, is described by the two Austrian media Wiener Zeitung and Der Standard, and which was also mentioned in Sermitsiaq last year.

At that time, Sermitsiaq handled the cases for naalakkersuisoq for raw materials, Naaja H. Nathanielsen, who said that she of course kept informed and that the department was in the process of investigate the company's conditions: "As you know, my department has initiated them required studies to determine whether a transfer of Tanbreez can take place with said investor.”

Thorough screening is necessary

In the environmental organization NOAH, they believe that the case here emphasizes the importance that an investor screening law is adopted in Greenland as soon as possible, so companies like Critical Metals Corp can be thoroughly researched before they possibly get a license for one of the world's largest deposits of rare earth metals:

- The uncertainties surrounding the ownership of Critical Metals Corp and the possible involvement of people who have been convicted of criminal matters, emphasizes once again the need to thoroughly screen the investors who acquire the Greenland mining projects. If they don't respect the law and pay taxes outside of Greenland, why would they do it in this case? The new one investor screening act gives the Ministry of Mineral Resources the opportunity to cooperate with the Danish judiciary when it investigates companies, such as the ministry suspect of not being clean at the edges, and even though the law has not yet come into force force, the authorities should in any case submit to Critical Metals Corp the most thorough investigation possible, says spokesperson for NOAH, Niels-Henrik High.

Opaque ownership

Professor of financial management at Aalborg University, Per Nikolaj Bukh, has also looked at European Lithium and Critical Metals Corp' stock market material and shareholder group.

He agrees that the ownership relationships are very difficult to see through.

– A significant conclusion is that it is completely opaque who who controls the companies and who gets something out of the companies. They Shareholders who are listed, including the big banks and the like, have underlying shareholders, and we do not necessarily know who they are.